Main opposition's approval rating outstrips ruling party's for 1st time in nearly 5 yrs: Gallup

The main opposition party outstripped the rival ruling party in public support for the first time since a major corruption scandal involving former conservative President Park Geun-hye about five years ago, an opinion poll showed Friday.

The latest survey by Gallup Korea showed the conservative main opposition People Power Party (PPP) garnered 32 percent of support while the ruling Democratic Party (DP) had 31 percent.

The poll was conducted on 1,000 voters nationwide from Tuesday-Thursday.

The latest figure for the PPP marks the same level from a Gallup poll a week earlier, but the DP saw its rating drop by 1 percentage point from a week earlier.

It is the first time public opinion came in favor of the PPP more than the DP since the image of the biggest conservative party was hammered by a sweeping corruption scandal involving the impeached conservative president in late 2016.

Since recording 28 percent as opposed to the DP's 26 percent in the second week of October 2016, the PPP's approval rating had stayed below that of the rival party in the pollster's surveys.

In the latest poll, 25 percent of the respondents identified themselves as uncommitted voters without any political party of preference.

The progressive minor Justice Party had 5 percent of support, followed by the Open Democratic Party at 3 percent.

The poll also showed the approval rating for President Moon Jae-in at 38 percent, the same as a week earlier. A total of 53 percent of the respondents said the president is "not doing well," down 1 percentage point from a week ago.

The poll has a 95 percent confidence level, with a margin of error at plus or minus 3.1 percentage points. (Yonhap)